how soon can i use prints?

[Nick Minall]

Well I have been told not to laminate for 24 hours?

printing with a Roland

Nick.

[John Imrie]

sorry where should i have posted?

[Shane Drew]

I wouldn’t print, laminate and lay them in the day.

If they are matched components, it might be safe with say, 12 hours to dry, but non matched components I wouldn’t really risk it.

Certainly you wouldn’t get a warranty claim if they failed.

They will be harder to lay also as the glue will be a bit soft until the ink dries properly.

Not saying I wouldn’t do it if it had to be done, but don’t be surprised if it fails. Is it worth the risk?

Hope that helps.

Shane

[John Imrie]

nick

i know that 24hrs is the norm but just wondered if you had tried fitting it earlier than that its only on for two or three months but i am just wondering if i fit these prints they will pull there selves back of the boards
i can’t say no big customer! 😳

[John Imrie]

thats my fear shane but as its a box and i am fitting full length i wonder if i run some clear along the edges once i have it place to stop edge creeping

[Shane Drew]

printing to monomeric material, it is more likely to creep, polymeric could possibly creep, cast shouldn’t creep.

Edging it probably wouldn’t help on a monomeric though.

[Lee Ballard]

Not anywhere near that size but I have done a print then cut and fitted within an hour of printing (it was a large sticker, unlaminated) applied with application tape to stop from curling whilst fitting and that is fine and was fitted 6 months ago.

It’s on one of our own vehicles and was done to test this out.

However being that you need yours laminated, I’m not sure if that is where the problem could arise and failure occur.

[Shane Drew]

Monomeric material, laminated when its not ready will cause delamination most likely.

In a really simple illustration, it would be similar to lettering a resprayed enamel car finish before it had a chance to cure I guess. Under the right circumstances it would probably stick, but it could fail if he circumstances were against you.

If he’s a big customer, personally, I’d explain your dilemma and let him make the call.

[Steve McAdie]

If I had to do the job and there was no way it could be put off for 24hrs I would write out a disclaimer explaining what could happen & get them to sign otherwise you might find you have to do it all again at your expense.

Steve

[John Imrie]

i’ve already checked to go ahead

as there are no corners to go round and there is no tension going to be placed on the prints and also fitting to flat surfaces i am hoping for the best
just finished printing and starting laminate and then leaving to fit catch up with you later

[Jason Xuereb]

Give it a going over the print with a heat gun before laminating. I’ve done this before didn’t have a problem for short terms things. Wouldn’t do it on a vehiclewrap etc.

[Stephen Morriss]

Too late now I know, always the same with me 🙂

I’ve done this with prints done on good quality polymeric vinyl and had no problems show up yet so I’d say it’s fine for a few months but I’d not guarantee it.

Steve

[Karl Williams]

I’d put the customer off to be on the safe side. If it goes wrong you wont just lose money but your reputation as well. I’m sure he’ll understand mate.

[John Imrie]

thanks for the replies but the jobs done now

a very good customer who is always right even when he’s wrong he is probably the only one i have that i would work till the back of eight on a friday night for a rare event

what i would say is i was placing 4′ x 16′ section around a foamex box the prints were 1220 high but the vinyl was 100m or so larger so i did the sides first and folded the unprinted vinyl up over the top so when i fitted the top i had a good piece of unprinted vinyl for the top sections to stick to and it seemed to stick like s**t to a blanket it will be used for promotions for around 6 months so time will tell, question for karl i think you use mimaki gear like myself i used metamark md5 and used the appropriate profile all the colours were fine other than black which as time went on became a sort of dark green any clues what would cause this

[Karl Williams]

Hi John. just a suggestion but I would presume the black dampers are emptying while printing. I haven’t had this on the Mimaki but on the Rockhopper it’s a regular thing. Maybe a black pipe has air in it or some dry crap stopping ink from running through during printing. I would start off doing a strong clean and see if that resolves it.

Karl.

[John Imrie]

karl

it’s only i month old jv33 so the pipes wont be clogged i think it’s maybe a fault with the profile i will check on monday with hybrid andy my son in law who works for me said that once before when i was on holiday he had printed off a large black and white pic. and got a similar result with jv3 the strage thing is i think the blacks with mimaki are always very punchy we will see anyway thanks for the reply i will need to get some beer over the neck to catch up late start tonight! after all it is friday